1 General

1.1 Contact

Any queries (including disputes) related to the tournament should be addressed to Gamestah using discord: https://bit.ly/EGSSOWDISC

Alternative Contact from team management: chrisis@gamestah.com

Any team contact MUST be acknowledged by a tournament admin for it to be considered valid. If you do not receive acknowledgement of information you have provided, the information will be considered invalid.

1.2 Rules Subject To Change

These rules may be updated at any time prior to the running of League match nights. Notices of any changes will be tweeted by @gamestah on Twitter. Teams are responsible for checking the rules before the start of each League stage.

1.3 Cheating

Don’t. If you cheat you will be banned from all future Gamestah Events.

1.4 Disputes

If you wish to register a dispute you will need to provide replays and screenshots to support your side of the dispute. If you don’t provide these your dispute will be thrown out. So make sure you save replays and take screenshots!

1.5 Season Schedule

1.5.1 Qualifying Tournaments

There are three qualifying tournaments:

Saturday 17/09 – Top 3 teams qualify for 1st Division

Sunday 18/09 – Top 3 teams qualify for 1st Division

Sunday 25/09 – Top 2 teams qualify for 1st Division

Qualifying Tournaments start at 12pm (Sydney) for each tournament.

1.5.2 Regular Season – 1st Division

Note: these dates are subject to change based on community feedback.

Week 1: 29 September

Week 2: 6 October

Week 3: 13 October

Week 4: 20 October

Week 5: 27 October

Week 6: 3 November

Week 7: 10 November

Finals ODC: Sunday 13 November

2 Tournament Entry

2.1 Entry Fees

2.1.1 Qualifying Tournaments

Entry into the qualifying tournaments for Overwatch is free.

2.1.2 Overwatch First Division

The entry fee for all teams that qualify for the Overwatch First Division is $20 per player or $120 per team.

2.1.3 Overwatch Second Division

Entry into the Overwatch Second Division is free.

2.1.4 How to Pay Team Entry fees

A link will be provided to all qualifying teams after the Qualifying Tournaments are complete.

2.2 Eligibility

2.2.1 Region-locked

Only teams located in Australia or New Zealand may enter the eLeague Gamestah Spring Series. In addition, all players must be located in Australian or New Zealand. League admins may request proof of identification and/or of residence.

2.2.2 Rosters

Teams must have a core of four (4) players for the entirety of the season, including Qualifiers, Regular Season and Playoffs. A team must have a total of six players for all matches.

All players and substitutes must be specified, together with battle.net IDs on the Team Description page during registration.

2.2.3 Roster Lock

At the start of the League the team roster is locked. For the purpose of this rule, the League starts on Thursday 29/09/2016 and rosters are locked from Midnight on Wednesday 28/09/2016.

Any changes to team rosters between qualifying and the start of the League must be approved by the League administration prior to roster lock. Teams must notify League administration prior to making any changes to their rosters.

Note: the allowance for roster changes/substitutes does not supersede rule 2.2.2.

2.2.4 Substitutes

Players may not register for more than one team, whether as starting roster or substitute.

2.2.5 Smurfing/Ring-ins

Not allowed at all. If you need to add someone to your roster they must be added prior to the League start, as specified in Rule 2.2.3.

2.2.6 Penalties

If a team fields a player that is ineligible, all matches using that player will be forfeited.

2.2.7 Exceptions

We will consider exceptions to all eligibility rules so long as we are notified by team management prior to the start of League nights. In such situations the admin’s decision is final.

2.2.8 Registration

Team registration requires a unique battle.net/Steam ID to be specified for each player in your team. This ID will be used to validate team rosters and must be accurate. Any battle.net ID discrepancies will render the affected player ineligible.

Captains should list their team’s battle.net/Steam IDs in the Team Description box on Challonge.

Team captains must provide a link to their team page on Challonge.

2.2.9 Registration Closing Time

Registration closes at 2 hours before the start of each qualifying Tournament.

For Overwatch Second division, Registration closes 2 hours before each weekly tournament.

Late registrations will not be seeded into the brackets.

2.3 Team Captains / Management

2.3.1 Team Captains

One player per team must be designated as team Captain. The Captain is responsible for communicating with other captains, admins and for relaying information to his/her team.

2.3.2 Email Contact

All team captains must provide a primary email contact to Gamestah during the registration process. This email should be an account that is checked at least daily! All notices affecting teams will be copied to the email address provided.

2.3.3 Discord

Team Captains and/or management should make sure they lurk in Gamestah Discord during scheduled tournament times: https://bit.ly/EGSSOWDISC

2.3.4 Captain’s Check-in

Captains are required to check in to (a) Challonge and (b) Gamestah Discord 1 hour before tournament start times. If you are unable to check in at this time, you may nominate a representative to check in for you. This is required to ensure the League night starts in time.

2.3.5 Disqualification for Late Check-in

Any teams that have not been checked-in 25 minutes prior to tournament start times will be disqualified.

2.3.6 Team Coaches

Teams may include a coach in their registered rosters. Coaches will be permitted to join matches as spectators locked to their team as long as there are spectator slots available.

3 Match Standards

Gamestah places a high priority on good quality broadcasts that showcase team and individual brilliance. To ensure this is the focus of broadcasts, we will require players to agree to our Match Standards

3.1 Player Names

3.1.1 Standarized Names

Players must use the same name from one broadcast to the next, and this name must match the name listed in the team roster on battlefy.com.

3.1.2 Penalties

Players that break naming rules will be given the chance to change their name to an approved name. Should players refuse, they will be treated as breaking the Smurfing/Ring-in rule, above.

3.1.3 Inappropriate names

Gamestah reserves the right to change any name they deem inappropriate for any reason whatsoever.

3.2 Team Names

3.2.1 Standardized Names

Team names are to remain the same throughout each individual tournament as registered on battlefy.com.

3.2.2 Inappropriate names

Gamestah reserves the right to change any name they deem inappropriate for any reason whatsoever.

3.3 Match and Broadcast Scheduling

eLeague Gamestah Spring Series Matches will be broadcast as follows. All matches must be played on designated match nights. A detailed schedule will be released after the Qualifying Tournament on 25/09.

Overwatch, 1st Division: Thursday nights, starting at 7pm (Sydney)

Overwatch, 2nd Division: TBC

3.3.1 Start on Time

Teams playing in matches that are scheduled to be broadcast should be ready to start their match at the scheduled time.

3.3.2 Don’t Start without Us

If your match has been nominated for broadcasting both teams must wait for Gamestah casters to signal “ready” before they start their matches.

3.3.3 Early Start Penalties

If you start early you will be required to restart the match. All progress or times set will be nullified.

4. League Format

4.1 Overwatch – 1st Division

4.1.1 Group Stage

Teams will be seeded into a single group of 8. Teams will compete in a Round Robin format over 7 weeks.

4.1.2 Match Rounds

All Round Robin matches will be series of three. All maps that are drafted must be played, and the win/loss of each map recorded.

4.1.3 League Points

Throughout the group stages, teams earn 1 point per map they have won in the series-of-three matches. These points are tallied throughout the season on the League Leaderboard.

4.1.4 Playoffs

At the end of the Group Stage, the top four teams will qualify for playoffs. Playoffs will be played on a single ODC (Date to be confirmed).

Quarter Final and Semi Final matches will be played in a double elimination bracket.

Quarter Final matches are bo3

Semi Final matches are bo5

At the end of the double elimination tournament, two teams will qualify for the Grand Final. The Grand Final is played as single elimination, bo5.

There will be no Bronze Final matches.

4.2 Overwatch – Second Division

4.2.1 Regular Season – Swiss Bracket

The Overwatch Second Division will be played as a weekly Swiss Format bracket. All matches are bo1, with five rounds of the Swiss bracket played per week. Wins earned each week are added to teams’ ZOWIE Leaderboard tally.

Teams are under no obligation to play every week. However, points earned during the Swiss bracket will be added to team’s League standings, so teams who wish to maximize their League points will want to enter as many Qualifying Rounds as possible.

At the end of 5 weeks of competition, the four teams with the most points qualify for the 2nd Division Finals.

4.2.2 Playoffs

Playoffs will be played as an ODC (Date TBC).

Quarter Final and Semi Final matches will be played in a double elimination bracket.

Quarter Final and Semi Final matches will be best-of-three (bo3).

Grand Final matches will be best-of-five (bo5).

4.2.3 Swiss Format Tie-breaker

If required, Challonge’s tournament software will be used to break ties

4.3 Overwatch Map Selection

4.3.1 Qualifying Tournaments – Specified Maps

During the Qualifying Tournaments the maps will be specified by League admins as follows:

Tournament 1:

Round 1: Lijiang Tower

Round 2: Watchpoint: Gibraltar

Round 3: King’s Row

Round 4: Eichenwaldt

Round 5: Anubis

Round 6: Hollywood

Round 7 (if required): Volskaya

Round 8 (if required): Nepal

Tournament 2:

Round 1: Hanamura

Round 2: Dorado

Round 3: Ilios

Round 4: Route 66

Round 5: Numbani

Round 6: Nepal

Round 7 (if required): Eichenwaldt

Round 8 (if required): Lijiang Tower

Tournament 3:

Round 1: King’s Row

Round 2: Volskaya

Round 3: Dorado

Round 4: Numbani

Round 5: Lijiang Tower

Round 6: Hollywood

Round 7: Route 66

Round 8: Nepal

4.3.2 Regular season (first division) – Map Draft

Maps will be drafted for all series or best of three matches.

Second division maps will be specified each week – one map will be played per round as specified.

4.3.3 Assault Maps Not Banned

All Assault Maps (Hanamura, Temple of Anubis, Volskaya Industries) are no longer banned.

4.3.4 Map Drafting Tool

Map Drafting will occur using http://owdraft.com/. Players must be familiar with using the drafting tool prior to the event.

4.3.5 Drafting Process

The Captain of the team in the higher bracket is responsible for creating the draft and providing links to the draft to players and spectators (i.e. shoutcasters).

In the below example, the Captain of Team A is responsible for creating the draft and providing links to the captain of Team B.

Team A

Vs

Team B

4.3.6 Draft Session Configuration

The Draft Session Requires the Tournament name (“eLeague Gamestah Overwatch Weekly”) as well as the names of each team. Captains must enter the correct team names, as displayed in the Challonge.com bracket.

“Starting team” should be set to Random.

4.3.7 Best-of-Three Draft

Teams will draft until three maps remain.

The team in the higher bracket has first choice of map to be played from the three drafted maps. The lower bracketed team chooses the second map to be played.

The third map will be played only if required.

4.3.8 Series-of-Three Draft

Teams will draft until three maps remain.

All three maps are played, in any order.

4.3.9 Best-of-Five Draft

Teams will draft until five maps remain.

First Map: chosen by higher-bracketed team

Second Map: chosen by loser of the first map

Third Map: chosen by loser of the second map

Fourth Map: chosen by loser of the third map

Fifth Map: only played if required.

4.4 Heroes

4.4.1 All Heroes Available

All heroes are available to be played.

Admins reserve the right to ban a hero if a game-breaking bug is discovered.

4.4.2 Hero Restriction

There is a restriction of maximum one of any hero in a team composition for ALL maps to be played.

4.5 Competitive Mode

All matches are to be played using Blizzard’s standard competitive mode. There are no tie-breakers for matches which are drawn in this mode.

4.5.1 Pauses

The October 11 Patch introduced the ability to pause the match. The following rules apply:

4.5.1.1 Reasons for pausing

Teams may pause matches if one or more of their players disconnects, or one or more of their players experiences crippling lag. Teams may not initiate pauses for any other reason. When a team pauses their match, they must state in Match chat why the pause was initiated.

4.5.1.2 Maximum pauses

Each team may initiate two pauses only during each map played.

4.5.1.4 Pause length

A pause may not be longer than 2 minutes. At the end of 2 minutes even if the disconnected player has not rejoined, or lag alleviated, the match must continue. At this time teams may choose to use their second pause for an additional 2 minutes. If the team’s second pause has already been used then the match must continue.

4.5.1.5 Ending pauses

When the team that initiated the pause is ready to un-pause, they must first receive confirmation from the opposing captain that they are ready to restart. Confirmation should be sought and given in Match Chat.

4.5.1.6 Admin pauses

During broadcasts, and administrator may initiate a pause at his/her discretion. Teams will be notified of the reason for the pause, and confirmation from both captains will be required before the admin un-pauses the game. In addition, the admin may choose to extend a pause beyond the five minute maximum, again at his/her discretion.

4.5.1.7 Pause abuse

If a team abuses pauses their match may be forfeited. The opposing team captain may submit a dispute. In this case the opposing captain must provide screenshots showing when the pause was initiated and when it was ended.

4.6 Scoring

4.6.1 Regular Season – 1st Division

Teams score points as follows:

1 point for a map win

0.5 points each for a map draw

0 points for a map loss.

All results for the series of three maps should be recorded in Challonge.

4.6.2 Regular Season – 2nd Division

Teams score points as follows:

1 point for a bo3 win

0 points for a bo3 loss.

4.7 Match Hosting

4.7.1 Hosting Responsibility

The Team Captain of the higher-bracketed team is responsible for setting up the match lobby.

4.7.2 Custom Game Settings

The following settings are required:

Ruleset: Competitive

Map Rotation: After a Mirror Map

Map selection: map chosen during drafting

Map Order: SIngle Map

Return to Lobby: Payload = After a mirror match

Disable Kill Cam: On

High Bandwidth: On

All other settings: Default

4.8 Reporting Match Results

4.8.1 Screenshots

All players are responsible for taking screenshots of results.

4.8.2 Captain’s Submissions

Captains must enter the results of their match into Challonge as soon as the match is completed. For series-of-three matches, report all map wins/draws/losses.

For best of three matches, report only the final result (win/loss)

If you are unsure how many points have been earned, consult with a tournament admin in Gamestah Discord!

Gamestah’s Discord server: https://discord.gg/0Y8NbmIdfCpoWzX5

5. Broadcasting

Gamestah is the only approved broadcaster of eLeague Gamestah Overwatch League matches.

5.1 Broadcast Channel

All matches will be broadcast on www.twitch.tv/gamestahtv1

5.2. Team and Player Agreement

Teams and players agree to have their eLeague Gamestah Overwatch League matches exclusively broadcast by Gamestah.

5.3 Exclusive Broadcasting

No eLeague Gamestah Overwatch League matches may be streamed or broadcast by anyone other than Gamestah. This includes player-POV streaming.

5.4 Sponsors and Promotion

Gamestah is happy to promote team sponsors during match broadcasts. Teams should provide Gamestah with details of their sponsors (including graphics such as logos) to enable this promotion.

5.5 Montages and Compilations

Footage from replays of eLeague Gamestah Overwatch League matches (including video or audio) may be used in montages or compilations as long as the footage includes the eLeague and Gamestah Logos overlayed in a corner of the screen.

In addition, credit should be given to eLeague and to Gamestah in the production closing credits.

5.6 Nominating Matches for Broadcast

Gamestah will announce which matches have been selected for broadcast as early as possible. If your match has been nominated the team captains will be informed through Discord and invited to a lobby created by the League admins.

6. Player Code of Conduct

All players and organisations that participate in Gamestah events, including EGSS, agree to the following Code of Conduct.

6.1 Applicability

Players and organisations that participate in Gamestah events are expected to adhere to the Player Code of Conduct with respect to Gamestah events and their sponsors in all public forums, including Discord, online third party forums such as OCEOverwatch.com, social media and Twitch chat.

6.2 Be respectful

While a certain level of competitive banter is expected – and allowed – players are expected to be respectful to each other, the League admins and broadcasters.

6.3 League Sponsors

Players and organisations are expected to treat EGSS sponsors with the respect due to them for their support of the Overwatch eSports scene in Oceania. Players or organisations that bring EGSS sponsors into disrepute may be disqualified from participation in EGSS and/or future Gamestah events.

6.4 Warnings

Teams or players that behave in an unacceptable way will receive a series of warnings from the admins. Warnings will persist from one League Week to the next. Good behaviour will result in the warnings decaying.

6.5 Bans

Teams or players that accumulate three (3) warnings will be banned for one or more subsequent League Weeks, subject to the admins’ decision. Any attempts to circumvent a ban will result in permanent banning from Gamestah Events in the future.

7. Prizes

7.1 Overwatch – 1st Division

TBC. Prizes will be awarded to the 1st and 2nd placed teams.

Gamestah guarantees a minimum cash prize pool of $1000 and is in the process of finalizing additional prizes from sponsors.

7.2 Overwatch – 2nd Division

TBC. Prizes will be awarded to the 1st and 2nd placed teams.

8. League Finals

Details of League Finals for 1st and 2nd Division will be released during Week 3 of the competition. All matches will be played Online.